"The most important goal in my life is to have some significant impact in preserving and expanding the realm of personal freedom in the life of this country.” Richard D. Obenshain

Reclaiming the Party

Well fellow conservatives, we stand at a historic opportunity to reclaim the GOP. Although the Republican Party was trounced in the election, the principles of limited government conservatism remain strong. The Republican Party lost. Neo-conservative thinking lost. But, you must remember that we did not lose because our policies and principles were not on the ballot. True, some conservatives did and might lose (let us hope that Virgil Goode (5th, VA) triumphs), however, those defeats likely stemmed from the weakness from the top of the ticket. I assure you that more McCain voters were motivated by fear of Obama than enthusiasm for McCain. That tactic is no way to win an election. Love trumps fear. Have we learned nothing from Machiavelli? If only our candidates had run away as fast as they could from big government advocates like Bush and McCain, they would have done far better. As I’ve said in the past,

“I believe that there are three key elements that lead to our success. We win if we:

1. Stick to our principles,
2. Properly articulate our message to the fine citizens of the Valley and the rest of our state, and
3. Campaign hard

When we fail at even one of these principles, we usually lose (and deservedly so).”

Unfortunately, when conservatives place party ahead of principles, conservatives lose. Then, sooner or later, the Republican Party loses …Virginia loses…and the nation loses.

Along these lines, I present to you a speech given by the author of the book Conservatives Betrayed, Richard Viguerie. He gave this speech at the Virginia Conservative Leadership Conference on April 26th 2008 in Richmond, Virginia.

Should you want to hear more of Richard Viguerie, you should pick up his writings or visit his website.

Fellow lover of liberty, all is not lost. We must take back our party, our state, and our nation. Do you want more faux conservative candidates like McCain or Bush? Do you want more betrayals and crushing defeats? If we fail to act today, who knows when we will get another opportunity like the present? Now is our time, so let us begin.

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2 Responses

If the Republican party ever changes its mantra to the following summation (and by changing its mantra I mean actually living up to these policies).

-limited and intelligent government (good regulation vs more),
-no moral agenda because the government has no place in my home nor yours.
-limiting privatization to realistic arenas (ie: no water, police, military privatizations)

I don’t mean any disrespect, but from what I’ve found confirmed on this web site, the Republican Party, whether neo-conservative appendage or just plain conservative, seem mostly concerned just about themselves.

I find it amazing that there’s little to no mention of equality, fairness, justice, or poverty, nor even about a pragmatic policy for making this nation safer from outside attack. Instead it’s all about “liberty,” which I understand here to mean liberty FROM taxes, regulation, oversight, good global citizenship and the inevitable future.

It seems like conservatives are about grabbing as much as possible and holding on as tightly as possible… all-for-one but no one-for-all. Looks like looting, to me. Where’s the liberty in that?

For example, Virgil Goode is a xenophobe who’s done precious little for his district except play to our fears and all our darker angels. He’s not looking forward, he’s just preventing progress by clinging to the old paradigms of intolerance and fear of change. That does NOT help the citizens of the 5th District, but it has kept him in office because citizens aren’t really paying attention. Until now… the financial crisis is the catalyst that’s opened people’s eyes to what’s actually been going on around here the past several years.

There’s so much here about “we conservatives” and “we Republicans” on this site that it’s almost a cry for help. Richard Viguerie mentions Doctor Phil… well, maybe it’s time to make that call and get some therapy.

Until the focus of the Republican party is to identify the genuine needs of the American citizen (as opposed to the needs of Republican power politics) and compete with Democrats on the basis of which party has the best solutions for the long-term, it doesn’t matter what conservatives specify in this creed or that manifesto, nor will it matter whom you select as a leader.

Politics MUST be more than simply strategies of grabbing and holding on to power. Country First is a great slogan but only if your party means it earnestly and honestly.